I made another trip to Santa Rosa Island last week, east winds and a full moon made really nice conditions. Water Canyon beach is a short hike from the campground, I spent my evenings on the beach, very cool watching the moonrise and just cruising the beach under the full moon. I made arrangements with one of the park guides to get a ride out to Skunk Point at 5:00 am, and got to catch the moon setting along the southeast anchorage beaches. Very cool exploring the beaches at Skunk Point.

Doug, those pictures are wonderful, especially the wildlife shots, the pelicans being my favorite. I am booked for passage to Rosa next weekend, so your posting is well appreciated by me. The long-range forecast for next weekend calls for another east wind event. Did those winds on your trip affect the campground conditions? Still toying with the idea of bringing the surfboard, but your pictures do not reveal much swell and the east wind would not be favorable for Skunk point. Were conditions windless in the AM?

Freestone – I’m booked for Rosa this weekend also, I’m usually on the bow of the boat with my camera looking for wildlife, otherwise I’ll have an orange MSR tent in the campground. The wind shelters at the campground do a good job blocking the wind. As for surfing and wind, there's a cove near Torrey Pines that is sheltered with a pretty good left "when there’s a swell", it’s the picture with the cactus in the foreground. My last trip it stayed windy am to pm, going home day it was a perfect glassy morning. I hear they had big surf out there last weekend, had a hard time getting people off San Miguel.

It looks like a great weekend on the Island, there are no wind advisories being advertised for the weekend that might make for a dicey crossing. I will be on the boat trying not to psyche myself into seasickness. In camp we will have the green Akto and the MSR Ventana.